Boy Problems
by ahuehuehueee
Summary: Kanon is determined to find out who Natsuo is, and Mafuyu is determined to stop her from ever finding out.
1. Prologue: Tight Spot

_Miscellaneous:_ This story has been posted over at AO3 for a month now, and I guess I should post it here as well. I've always wanted to try out a girl/girl pairing in a fanfiction story, hehe. I have a couple of non-fanfiction works that feature F/F pairings, so might as well try it out.

* * *

 _Prologue  
_ Tight Spot

*.*.*

"Do you think Natsuo will show up?" Kanon asks, her eyes expectant.

Mafuyu swallows, finding it hard to not get on her knees and immediately ask forgiveness from Kanon. "Of course he will."

"Really?"

"Well, he is the Natsuo that saved you before, right? And he's a member of the Public Morals Club! All of our club members are good people."

Mafuyu knows that Kanon is holding on to her every word, and feels guilt prick her internally. Kanon looks like she really, really, _really_ wants to see Natsuo again.

"But how can you be sure? From what you guys tell me, he doesn't hang out in your club room at all," Kanon finally asks, after what seemed to be a lifetime to Mafuyu.

"... because we're _nakama,"_ Mafuyu mumbles after a moment of deliberating.

She hiccups from her nervousness. Kanon stares right at her, and Mafuyu flinches even if she doesn't want to. It seems like Kanon is studying her face, and for a minute, Mafuyu's heart starts beating too fast. She doesn't want to be found out right now. Or ever.

Kanon turns her head away. Mafuyu manages to find the voice in her throat.

"Um, Kanon?"

"Yeah?"

Mafuyu hesitates for awhile, but continues. "... Why did you tie me up and bring me here?"

Kanon looks at her like she is dumb. "Like you said, you guys are _nakama,_ right?" she smirks, and Mafuyu feels the chill of what she supposed was Kanon's jealously ripple through her. "Why don't we test that theory?"

Mafuyu just stares. She could easily escape the ropes binding her, but she is more afraid of what could happen should she try to make a run for it. But if she doesn't make a run for it, then Natsuo will certainly not come and save her. She _is_ Natsuo, after all.

 _Okaa-san,_ she thinks. _What do I do?_


	2. Ninja's Shadow

_Chapter 1  
_ Ninja's Shadow

*.*.*

Shinobu Yui was being followed. He didn't need to use his superior skills to figure it out. Kanon was tailing him around in broad daylight nary a care in the world.

He started running, and he could feel her following behind. He jumped to a tree, swung to another using one of his ropes. He made a mad dash to the exterior of the school. He looked to his left and right and behind. He was satisfied as he finally shook her off.

"No one can match my ninja skills!" he exclaimed triumphantly. He sneaked in the student council room to spend some quality time with Miyabi. As he alighted the window, he was too focused on the sight of his master so much that he missed a figure looming near his right.

"Gotcha," Kanon interjected.

"Oh. Were you playing a game?" Miyabi asked, a little curious.

"We were," she replied, immediately cutting Shinobu off before he could utter a word. She held him by the arm, and dragged him outside of the room.

Yui made a run for it when she momentarily let go of him. She looked like she was going to say something, and it was something Yui felt like he didn't want to hear.

He ran across the halls in a bizarre pattern. When he reached the rooftop, he wiped sweat off his brow, content that he had shaken her off. Yui wanted to return to the student council room to talk to Miyabi, but he deemed it too dangerous. Kanon could be waiting for him there.

He went to the second best place he could think of, a place where Kanon wouldn't be. He scaled the building windows. He jumped into the room he was looking for when he found it.

"You wouldn't believe what-" he began, but froze when he saw Kanon quietly sitting down in a chair in the Public Morals Club. Hayasaka and Aki felt unnerved by her presence.

"You're here," she quipped. "I was supposed to ask only you, but you left me with no other choice when you ran."

Yui felt the daggers the others' stares sent to him.


	3. Her Request

_Chapter 2  
_ Her Request

*.*.*

Only Hayasaka was in the room with Aki before Kanon swung the door open. They were, of course, a little apprehensive when she entered.

She silently stood, seemingly at a lost at her own intentions. She tried to say something while standing, but bit her lip instead. After a while of what seemed like hedging to Aki, she approached them and sat on a table across the desk.

Aki stared as he tried to read Kanon. She had her arms crossed on her chest and her legs crossed. She tried to put on a indifferent yet threatening face, but it was obvious to him that she was just as uncomfortable with the current situation as they were.

"I have a request," she curtly said, just as Shinobu swung through the window.

Shinobu was saying something but froze when he saw Kanon. "You're here," she said, and Aki could feel that she was somehow relieved by that fact. "I was supposed to ask only you, but you left me with no other choice when you ran."

He and Hayasaka looked at Shinobu with disbelief. Kanon cleared her throat a little to turn their attention to her.

"I have a request," she repeated. She took a deep breath; Aki could see her hesitation. After she hadn't spoken for a while, he couldn't bear the suspense anymore.

"What is it?" he inquired. She mumbled in response, and when she realized that she did, she scowled.

"Can you give me Natsuo-san's contact number?" she huffed out, immediately turning her head to the side after she had spoken the last word. A light dusting of pink was speckled on her cheeks, and Aki knew what this was about.

"We don't really-" he began, but was cut off by Shinobu.

"We can't contact him, only Kurosaki can," he blurted out, and then and there Aki wanted to shut him up. He knew they were treading dangerous waters, and a certain senpai would be the one in trouble.

"Crap," he muttered under his breath. "Of all the days she isn't here..."


	4. Off Guard

_Chapter 3  
_ Off Guard

*.*.*

Mafuyu simply wasn't prepared when Kanon popped out from nowhere.

"How do I contact Natsuo-kun?" Kanon asked, without even batting an eyelash. She had just reached the door to the Public Morals Club when the question was thrown at her. Kanon was apparently on her way out when she was supposed to go in. Behind Kanon, Aki was trying to communicate with her using signs.

"W-why?" she stammered, not really knowing how to react when a girl was so near her. Kanon scowled at her response, and Mafuyu tried to look at anywhere but her.

"Nonoguchi-san," Aki began. "You see, it's not really easy to contact Natsuo." He raised his eyebrow to give Mafuyu a sign to continue, and she gladly took it.

"Yes, that's right! Natsuo has..." she paused as she searched for words, and attempted to look at Kanon to reassure her, but found no courage to do so. After she had been silent for too long, Aki steered the conversation right back at him.

"-Has no phone." he finished her statement, and studied Kanon's face to determine whether she believed them. Her face remained skeptical.

"How do you contact him then?"

"We leave a card on an agreed upon place!" Mafuyu hastily replied, and at once realized that what she did probably wasn't the best thing to do.

"Oh. How do you know where to leave the card, then?'

Aki anticipated Mafuyu's lack of answer for that question, and covered for her. "It's a little more complicated than that, actually. He is really secretive."

"Yes, he really is! He usually only contacts me when there is an important matter we need to tackle in the club," Mafuyu added. Kanon sent her a sharp gaze that quickly turned into a sad stare.

"He contacts only you?"

Mafuyu blinked back at her, confused at the sudden change in her expression. "Kind of-"

Aki clamped her mouth before Mafuyu could continue. "He contacts Saeki-sensei first, of coure, and Mafuyu is usually the person who he assigns to delegate the information."

"I see," Kanon replied. She looked at Mafuyu with a steady gaze, making her want to flinch under Kanon's scrutiny. Kanon motioned her to come closer, and she obliged.

When Mafuyu was near enough, Kanon started talking in a low voice. "Can you pass him a message?"

All Mafuyu could do was nod in reply. Kanon leaned in closer to her ear and said something that, even if she didn't know it yet, would cause Mafuyu to panic for the days yet to come.

"Can I see him again?"


	5. Aki's Plan

Yo, I now have a Tumblr account haha. ahuehuehueee . tumblr. com

* * *

 _Chapter 4  
_ Aki's Plan

*.*.*

"Tell her you'll meet her on Valentine's day," he said, face too serious. She looked at him, confused.

"I thought we were supposed to discourage her from trying to see Natsuo. Why am I, er, is he going to meet her?"

Aki stared at her with a glint in his eye. "Because you're going to date her -" and at this point, she tried to interject her own opinion, but was quickly waved off by Aki "- and then reject her."

Mafuyu gaped at him disbelievingly. "What?"

"It's the best choice we've got. You're going to give her the worst date of her life."

The idea finally registered in her brain. "Oh. Oh! Now I get it," she exclaimed. "That's actually a good idea."

\- At least, that was what she said, but something was tugging at her.

"First, you have to tell her that Natsuo agreed to meet at the plaza," he said, his eyebrows creased, deep in thought. She nodded in reply, waiting for what she should do next.

"Then, you need to look rugged, like you didn't even prepare for the date. Oh! You better wear an undershirt like Banchou's," he continued. Mafuyu couldn't help but entertain that tugging feeling at the back of her mind, and once she couldn't stand it anymore-

"Hey Aki," she replied. "Isn't that kind of mean?"

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you actually like Banchou's fashion sense."

"No, that's not it. I mean - what I'm going to do to Nonoguchi-san... wouldn't it hurt her?"

All of the sudden, Aki stared at her intensely. She almost flinched. "Listen," he began as he put his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "Treat her like a wound with a band-aid over it. She's the wound, and what you are going to do is remove the band-aid. Do you get that?"

She nodded her head in reply.

"It's going to hurt whether you take it off slowly or quickly. And you know how less painful it is when you take it off quickly, right?"

She looked at the ground and tried to think it over. After contemplating for a while, she lifted her head.

"Will you do it?" he asked, looking a little anxious.

"Yes. I'll do it."


	6. Crinkled Shirt

Going to go over the past chapters and rename Kanon as Nonoguchi. I swear I can never get this surname first custom down at the first try lol.

* * *

 _Chapter 5  
_ Crinkled Shirt

*.*.*

She was wearing one of _those_ shirts she had; kind of like the shirt she let Takaomi wear when he slept over. It was a crinkled mess, like the button-down long sleeve polo she paired with it. She was an explosion of patterns and colors, and even she cringed a little when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

Instead of the normal Natsuo look she had grown accustomed to ever since Aki started styling her, the look she had right now was - for the lack of a better word - rugged. She looked more like the first time she had worn the Natsuo disguise, only worse. It was a marvel how much time they had spent on trying to make her look effortlessly unkempt.

She should have really made Aki go with her. Aki's plan was simple. Too simple, in fact, that Mafuyu was starting to have second thoughts. As she stood at the corner of the plaza waiting for Nonoguchi-san, she started replaying over and over in her head what she should do once Nonoguchi-san got there.

She should act brusquely and keep it curt and cold, she thought as she fiddled with her messy collar. She had crumpled, straightened, and crumpled it for what seemed like the hundredth time the past hour. She was supposed to be late, but her nerves got the best of her, and she decided to go early instead so she could have some time to calm herself down.

She was back to straightening her collar when Nonoguchi Kanon arrived. It took a while before it registered in her head, and the fact that Nonoguchi-san was staring at her intently didn't help either. The words she kept repeating in her head suddenly became silence she could no longer comprehend, and her mind went blank.

"Hey," she feebly greeted in her best Natsuo voice, hoping she hadn't revealed herself in the process. Nonoguchi-san just kept staring at her, and it took her a while to understand that she was staring at her weird undershirt.

Mafuyu quickly buttoned up her polo, obscuring the offending shirt in the process. Only then did she reply.

"Hey," Nonoguchi-san greeted, and Mafuyu knew that her battle had just begun.


	7. Dash-Dot

_Chapter 6  
_ Dash-Dot

*.*.*

Mafuyu knew she had to get out of there fast. She was going through all the possible events her brain could make up as they walked inside the ice cream shop. In her absentmindedness, she almost tripped on a chair. Thankfully, she managed to hold on to its backrest. However, she dragged it a little too far back. Her eyes momentarily met with Kanon, and Mafuyu was momentarily frozen in fear of being discovered by those sharp eyes. To her surprise, Kanon took a seat.

Confused, she took a seat at the opposite end of the table, and they were now seated face-to-face, with Mafuyu desperately trying to avoid her gaze. She fiddled with her hands under the table as Kanon called for the waiter to give them a menu.

 _Pretend you suddenly forgot to do something,_ Mafuyu thought, as she twisted and knotted her hands for the nth time. Her silent despair was disturbed by the small coughing sound Kanon made.

"You," Kanon asked, and Mafuyu's heart jumped a little in nervousness, "don't really talk much, do you?"

Mafuyu let out a small cough of her own, determined to clear her throat to achieve a deep voice effect. "... Yeah," she answered, somewhere between a statement and a question, all while trying to keep her face a perfect mask of disinterest. Silence fell upon them once again, and she stared idly at her lap.

The silence was maddening. In Mafuyu's head, an eternity had already passed. Then she heard gentle tapping, and she looked up to find the sound.

"Isn't that..." Mafuyu started, but was cut off by Kanon.

"Didn't you say it was your hobby? I won't repeat it again," she snapped, refusing to meet her eyes. Mafuyu caught the crimson shade of Kanon's cheeks and felt hers flush slightly as well. She knew that she really, really had to get out of there fast, ruin the date, and get it all over with, but-

Mafuyu nodded as a reply, and she was thankful the waitress came right then to take their order, because she now had an excuse to not ruin the date; at least, not yet. The words Kanon told her in Morse code kept repeating over and over in head.

... - .- -.- / .- -. -.. / . .- - / . ...- . / .- ..- ... - / - -. . / .-. .- .-. ..-. .- .. - / .- .. - ... / - . .-.-.-

It was the first time someone remembered something she told them. So when their orders came, she dug in energetically, struggling to hide how touched she was.


End file.
